Georgia has accused the Russian military of organizing bomb blasts in the capital Tbilisi and other parts of the country, and said it has arrested six suspects linked to the attacks.
Georgian Interior Ministry officials said Tuesday that the six Georgians were arrested last weekend and had been recruited by a Russian military officer to carry out the attacks.
The ministry alleges the chief suspect, described as a former Georgian military officer, was blackmailed by the Russian, who threatened the Georgian's family if he did not cooperate.
A series of attacks were reported in Georgia between September and November, with the last blast killing a woman November 28 near the headquarters of an opposition party in Tbilisi. No casualties were reported in the earlier explosions, the first of which occurred September 22 near the U.S. Embassy in the capital.
Last month, Georgia said it had broken up a Russian spy ring and arrested 13 suspects, both Russian and Georgian nationals. Moscow called those arrests a provocation and accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of suffering from "chronic spy mania" generated by his antipathy toward Russia.